


Ghosts in the Rearview

by thevictorinox



Category: Kingsman: The Secret Service (2015)
Genre: Brief Mention of Mental Health Issues, Everybody Lives, Ghosts, Grief/Mourning, M/M, Mental Health Issues, Post V-Day, Post-Movie(s), Talk of the Supernatural
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-28
Updated: 2015-08-28
Packaged: 2018-04-17 16:46:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,235
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4674071
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thevictorinox/pseuds/thevictorinox
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There is a story that the more senior members of the Kingsman pass around. Ghosts of long since passed knights appear before current knights, as holograms in the head’s up display. It was once thought as a glitch but knights through the entire lineage of Kingsman have made themselves known as apparitions in green pixels. Eggsy is no exception, as he starts seeing the ghost of Harry Hart.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ghosts in the Rearview

In the months following Harry’s death, the Kingsman are in no shortage of work. They first have the fallout of the V-day to deal with, extracting all signs of involvement from the whole thing, getting the information needed into the remaining government hands, those who have either not bowed to Valentine, or were not privy to his plans. It’s a tumultuous world to be living in, but slowly, society rights itself and moves forward, feeling a little more tender towards one another. In a sense, Valentine’s plan did have an effect.

 

Once that had been more or less moved to progress monitoring, the Kingsman organization had turned their sights on to another task, rebuilding their own ranks. Arthur was dead for his involvement, Galahad gone, and a few dozen other knights and personnel had either been arrested for betraying the organization or were killed in action. Merlin had temporarily assumed the role of Arthur, but kept the mantle from laying crown over his head.

 

Between, jetting all over the world, recruiting, and training. It does not leave one much time to grieve.

 

Filling the title of Galahad was the easiest choice by far, Eggsy had steps into it as though it were made for him. His armor certainly had been, Harry had seen to that. Perhaps, in some small part the man knew with unyielding certainty, that his protege would sit at the table.

 

It was months after V-Day, when Eggsy is finally, formally ‘knighted’, that he first sees Harry in the glasses. Eggsy has just come up from the bullet train, and was stands in fitting room one, letting his reflection show the sharp contrast of a man he is now from what he was.  
  
Through his glasses, as if his very thoughts had conjured him, Harry appears, faint, in green, standing at his left shoulder. The image is not strong, as though half of him is in shadow.  
  
“You should know, I’m very proud of you, Eggsy.” The words come thin, Harry’s voice sounds strained. The entire thing is over before Eggsy registers it had happened. It leaves him shaking still.

 

Weeks later Merlin sends Eggsy on an assignment in Korea. This was not the first time a Galahad was sent here. This time, the threat taking a different form, and it hadn’t been particularly difficult until the end when after he achieved the objective, it all went to pot and he finds himself running through unfamiliar corridors.

 

“Left, Eggsy, now!” Harry’s voice pulled loud in his ear. Eggsy doesn’t know why he obeys it without question, but he yields hard, nearly throwing himself in the hall.

 

Later, he breathes heavily, back against the stairs of the plane, Eggsy realizes that it wasn’t Merlin shouting the life-saving directions in his ear, but the voice of a dead man. He leans over, and throws up, narrowly missing his shoes.

 

Over the course of the year, Harry visits in Eggsy’s HUD. Always brief. Sometimes helpful, occasionally, to shower praise. Eggsy soaks up the latter like it’s the only thing keeping him afloat. Eggsy doesn’t acknowledge the thread of his psyche could be fraying.  
  
Sometimes, Harry will not say anything at all, and Eggsy feels fractionally whole under his appraising gaze. If he isn’t on a mission, Eggsy will still and just stare at the man’s image, quietly, as if lack of movement might keep him there longer. Harry is a ghost that the new Galahad couldn’t chase. It’s not helping him grieve, move on, not that he tries, not that he wants to. It was easier this way, to pretend that he was alive, just far away.

 

Eggsy had become comfortable in his position of Galahad, as much as one can in their line of work. Alongside him the other knights settle in well. The table becomes a myriad of old guard and new. With them, each brings tradition.

 

The knights had carved time when they all were back in London, if they were lucky, it was days, but mostly a few hours between assignments. They had taken that precious time to not only meet but to get to know one another, senior agents instilling wisdom, stories and advice.

 

A calm autumn night finds the knights telling Kingsman legends. Eggsy speaks in his normal accent, the poshness of RP feels too much like a party trick. Roxy was tucks herself against Eggsy on a cosy sofa in the parlour as the knights took turns. From the stories of the Caradoc in the 40’s to Tristan in the 70’s. Towards the end, Percival begrudgingly tells a story of Harry from the late 90’s. It draws a smile on Eggsy’s face for what feels like the first time in months. It also brings a question.

 

“D’you ever see stuff? Like, stuff you can’t explain?” The laughter died around Eggsy’s question, air made solemn, because, yes, they had. “...People that are dead, I mean.” Eggsy continues, feeling stupid for saying anything but the way some of the older knights stare, his curiosity gets the better of him.

 

“How do you mean?” Roxy asks, concern thick for her friend.

 

“I jus’ mean, sometimes, I see ‘Arry in my glasses, jus’ for a minute.”  Eggsy is expecting them to look at him like he’s nuts, and he feels a mandatory counseling session on the horizon. Only, Gawain has started speaking

 

“They’re the Kingsman Ghosts.” More of the senior agents nod. “I haven’t seen them, but my sponsor told me about them. It’s incredibly rare, but they happen. The thing  is fallen Kingsman never come back as actual ghosts.” He gestures to the space in front of him to illustrate his point. “They always are in the HUD as holograms. Merlin thought it was some strange glitch, saved holograms, he’s tried getting rid of it but he can’t. It’s not just knight’s who have used the glasses. The previous Bors said Lamorak from the early twenties, appeared and helped him through an interrogation, knew information about the enemy operative, he didn’t. Our computers are good but they aren’t capable of generating intel out of thin air.”

 

“I saw Gareth, my sponsor, he was KIA a few years ago, standing in the shop a few months after. I thought I was seeing things.” Ector said softly.

 

“Do they show up on the feed? Like, if I go back to my terminal, will I see him?” Eggsy asks, feeling hopeful. Some of the senior knights shake their heads.  
  
“No, it comes across as this noise, distorts the whole feed, sound and everything, so you hope he doesn’t come during feed you need to look back at.”  

 

The whole conversation makes the young Galahad feel slightly more comfortable, and anxious all at once. He isn’t crazy, wasn’t seeing things, but Harry had been visiting more and more. These visits were supposed to be rare, what was pulling Harry to do so? Eggsy’s survivor's guilt? He turns his head away from the conversation as if it will take away the thoughts in his head.

 

The following week passes without a visit from Harry, but there is an announcement on his feed, they’ve inducted a new Arthur. He’s so busy with his assignment, he doesn’t bother opening it. _Long live the King._

 

In the months that pass since the conversation, Harry appears nearly every week, sometimes twice. Eggsy’s chest feels tighter and tighter, the next time distracts him so much, he almost misses his target.

 

He decides after that he needs to stop wearing the glasses, Harry couldn’t be there if there if he wasn’t wearing them. That was a problem in the field. The second time he tries it, it almost costs him his life. Damned if he did, damned if he didn’t.

 

“Galahad!” Merlin’s voice echoes down the hall and the sharp footfalls of the wizard’s strong stride follow. Eggsy pretends he doesn’t hear the man as he bee-lines for the changing quarters, teeth clicking together in his head as he clenches his jaw. This is a conversation he’s been avoiding. “Eggsy! Stop!” Finally the young knight slows his pace, before turning. Merlin takes it as an invitation to continue his barrage. “What in the hell do you think you’re doing? This is the second time you haven’t worn your HUD, why?”

 

“I don’ like wearing them.”

 

“Why the sudden change?” Merlin’s face is expressive because of his strong features, but it doesn’t make it any easier to read him.

 

“They’re jus’ distractin’ is all. Too much going on in the display.”

 

“Galahad, you were trained to work with them, they are an invaluable piece of equipment in the field. They provide vital information.” Merlin’s brows pinch together for a moment. He’s worked something out and his expression smooths into critical. “What’s really wrong with them?”

 

“I jus…” Eggsy fidgets with the hem of his shirt cuff, popping the cufflink through the buttonhole and back in. It’s easy, light fingers, and all. “It’s not just the displays ‘m seeing. The other knights said that the old knights, ones that ‘ave been killed sometimes appear in the HUD. I’m seein’ ‘Arry….but he keeps appearing. More ‘n more. I can’t focus.”

 

The face Merlin was wearing melts from anger, into a strange, sad, softness, schooling into one of his neutral, but determined expressions.   
  
“Come with me.” The finality of it, raises Eggsy’s hackles.

 

“No, Merlin ‘m not seeing the shrink, ‘m jus’ fine.” Eggsy has almost successfully avoided the therapist since his time as a knight. Merlin ignores him as they both walk. It takes Eggsy five minutes to realize they aren’t walking in the right direction, another ten before they are standing at Arthur’s office door. Eggsy only recognizes it from his final test in his candidacy for Lancelot. The test he had previously failed. He’s hoping there’s not a metaphor here.

 

“Stay.” Merlin says before knocking and walking in, closing the door  behind him. Eggsy’s left standing in the hall, awkwardly wondering what sort of trouble he’s going to be in for keeping his mental health a secret. They’ll probably put him on medical leave, which sounds even worse than seeing a ghost.

 

The door opens again, and Merlin steps out, looking at Eggsy with a strange mixture of guilt and excitement.

 

“Galahad, am I right in thinking you didn’t open the announcement regarding the new Arthur?” It’s a strange question that causes Eggsy to cant his head to the side.  
  
“No….I forgot about it, why?”

 

“Had you done so, this might have come as less of a surprise.” Merlin sidesteps and gestures to the door for Eggsy to enter. “Arthur will see you now.”

 

Eggsy steps in with trepidation. This feels a bit unnerving, like there’s a punchline he’s not getting. What he does get however, is a punch to the gut. At least, that’s what it feels like, with Harry Hart standing there, clad in charcoal wool and very much alive. Scar tissue radiates around an eye made pale from blindness. He looks relieved to see Eggsy. It’s not until Eggsy sees the pale pink tie knotted around his throat that he understands the context of Harry in this room.

 

“You’re not a ghost.” Is what Eggsy manages, Harry’s brows pinch together in confusion before he understands the meaning.

 

“No. I’m certainly not.” He replies, in that sensible way he does when Eggsy says something that makes him fond. Eggsy feels angry, relieved, and stretched too thin all at once. Harry must recognize it in him because the older the man steps around the desk. They are both within each other’s space without thinking about it.

 

Eggsy doesn’t remember embracing Harry because he wakes up staring at the wood paneled ceiling of Arthur’s office. He turns his head to see Harry sitting next to him, looking more concerned than he’s ever looked in his life.  
  
“You fainted.” The older man offers.

 

“I passed out, blokes don’t faint.” Eggsy says and sits up slowly, putting his feet down, he had been placed on the leather tufted sofa along the back of Harry’s office. It’s nearly identical to the one that is in the parlor of Harry’s home. The one that Eggsy and his family live in now.

 

Galahad runs his hand over his face before dropping them between his knees. looking up at Arthur.

 

“I thought you were a ghost….in my glasses….a fuckin’ ghost.” He can’t even muster anger in his voice but it sounds thin. It is then that sadness overtakes Harry’s expression and he nods.

 

“I’m sorry. I thought it would be easier….to see me in small quantities….”

 

“It’d be better do to it like a plaster, rip it off all at once, Guv. At least I wouldn’t ‘ave felt like I woz goin’ crazy.”  Harry has the decency to look guilty.

 

“I apologize Eggsy.”

 

“So wot then, you were watchin’ me on all those assignments?” Harry nods slowly.

 

“I admit, my curiosity got the better of me. I’m glad to see that I was not wrong to sponsor you. Though, perhaps, you were not meant for the role of Lancelot.” Harry looks proud under the near facade. Eggsy can recognize it, even after a year. “Chester King was wrong about you.”

 

“Yeah well, Rex Mortuus est, vivat Rex.” Harry’s brows draw up in surprise. Eggsy smiles widely.

 

_The King is dead, long live the King._

 

 


End file.
